Railway-rail joint



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet .1.`

W; P, GOUL'D. RAILWAY RAIL JOINT, CHAIR, AND SPLIGE. No. 310,581. Patented Jan. 13, 1885.

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(No Model.) v'2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

W. E'. GOULD.

RAILWAY RAIL JOINT, CHAIR, AND SPLIGE.' No. 310,581. Patented Jan. 13, 1885.

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linirnn @trarne Farrar @rricn WILLIAM F. eoULD, on'nns MoINns, IOWA..

RAILWAY-RAN.. JOINT, CHAlR, AND SPLICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 310,581, dated January 13, 1885.

Application filed August 11, 1883. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM F. GoULD, of

Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa, have invented an Improved Railway- Rail7 Railway-Chair, and Railway Joint or Splice, of which the following is a specification. i

My object is to facilitate forming a railwayjoint or the splicing of a broken rail at any time and place, in building and operating a railway; to relieve the rails from the torsional strain to which they are subjected at curves and whenever and wherever a track is uneven and the weight of a locomotive and passing train not evenly balanced on the parallel track-rails; to save the time, labor, and eX- pense of drilling holes; and also to avoid impairing the strength of rails by making boltholes therein, and to prevent the creeping of tracks incident to joints in which bolts are passed through rails.

My invention consists in the construction and combination of a chair adapted to perform the function of a truss in supporting the abutting ends of two rails,`and a clampingjaw adapted to engage the chair and to protect a drawing-nut witha screw-clamp, crossties, and rails, as hereinafter fully set forth.

Figures 1, .2, 3, 4, and 5 are transverse sections of my improved track and joint. Figs.` 6, 7 S, and 9 are side views, and Figs. 10 and 11 top Views, of the same. Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a common screw-clamp, and Fig., 13 of my clamping-jaw used in combination with the screw-clamp to produce parallel jaws in a joint.

Jointly considered these figures clearly illustrate the construction and combination of the different elements and the novelty and utility of my complete invention.

c is the horizontal portion of my chair adapted to rest flat upon one or more ties. b is the vertical portion adapted to engage the under side of the ball or T-head of the rail at its top and the flange of the rail at its junction with the horizontal portion a. y Y

In Figs. 1 and 2 the vertical portion is made to overlap the flange of the rail, and also to engage the web of the rail, and to produce this result the chair must be formed from wrought metal by means of roller-dies or cast in a mold.

The vertical Apart b thus produced from fiat plate metal will not come in contact with the web of a rail, and hence is adapted to be applied to rails of various shapes and height,

vand to connect the abutting ends of rails that differ in form. and height. The balls of the rails will rest upon the top edge of the part b, and their top surfaces will be thereby kept even with each other, as required to produce a continuous smooth track, while the flat bottoms of the rails may be retained at different points of elevation and at different angles relative to each-other and the base or horizontal portion of the chair by the contact of the chair with the edges of the iianges on the opposite sides of the rails, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Vhen made, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, to engage the underside of the T- head of the rail and the edge of the flange only, and not the web of the rail, it can be readily made by bending plate metal in a machine adapted to double plates together.

In Figs. 2 and 4 the edge a of the horizontal portion a is turned up to engage the ange of the rail, to aid in preventing any lateral movement of the rail relative to the chair. This turned-up part a' does not prevent the complete c hair from being put in place under the ends of two rails or a broken rail by sliding laterally, and aids in retaining the rails in place, while the opposite vertical part, b, engages the ball of the rail in such a manner that pressure communicated to the chair at the top of the part b will be resisted at the point a', and the intermediate part of the complete chair utilized as a spring to relieve the cars and the track from concussion.

In Figs. 5 and 9 my truss-form chair is provided with an extension, a, ofthe horizontal portion, to adapt it to be spiked fast upon a tie at the central portion of a rail, for the purpose of preventing any lateral motion of the rail relative to the tie or the tread yof a wheel passing over it.

b are vertical ribs or swells formed integral with the vertical portion b of the chair, to stiffen and strengthen the chair and complete joint.

' Heretofore a railway-chair has had vertical extensions on its opposite sides that would engage the ball of a rail when the end of a rail ICO a rail, or the abutting ends of two rails, from the side, and t'o engage the "Hat bottom, the rlange, and the under side of the ball of the rail, to increase the bearing-surface of the narrow top 'edge of the chair, for the purpose 'o'f supporting the balls of the abutting endsof f two rails or a broken rail more efficiently.

c is the base of my clamping-jaw, adapted to extend partially under the horizontal portion a of the chair. 4

d is the vertical portion, adaptedin form on its rear side to engage the outside surface of the vertical portion b of the chair. hole through the base portion c adapts it lto be combined with a common screw-clamp, f, by

passing the screw-threaded end of the clamp l through it and then placing a nut on the screwi, threaded end, as clearly shown in Figs 1, 2, `3, 1

and 4.

- projection from the Ivertical portion'd of tllel jaw that covers and protects the screw endf of the clamp f and the vnut g 'thereon from the car-wheels when they accidentally get voff the top of the rail.

In Fig. 4 the vertical portion ofthe clamp 3 5 f has an angular bend that overlaps the iianges E ofthe rails in such a manner that the iianges ofthe rails will act as wedges in forcing the Q top edge of the clam-p against the balls of the rails as the nut on the end of the clamp is l By means of this angular bend inthe l vertical portion of the clamp the top edge, of j the clamp and the top edge ofthe chair on-the f opposite side of the rails are simultaneously. operated by means'of the `nut to compensate; for the wear that occurs between the balls of j the rails and their supports. turned .portion of the clamp also 'overlaps and Thelinward1yi engages lthe turned-up part a of the chair,

andthe chair and the clamp mutually support each other and coact when the n-ut is drawn in pressing up against the balls of the rai-ls as required to maintain a joint firm and secure and the track-surface even.

To increase the bite of the jaw -portion d upon the outside surface yof the part b of the chair, -I simply serrate ythe inside surface of the vertical part d of the jaw, as shown inl Figs. 4 and 13. f

l1, (shown in Fig. 2) represents a metal plate or elastic packing-plate placed under the horizontal portion a ofthe chair, andbetwe'en the parallel jaws c, d, and f, vtoaidin keeping the joint tight and to prevent wear and noise.

In Figs. 6, 8, and l0 a joint or splice is shown formed between two ties by means of my chair, one of my clamping jaws, and

a screw-clamp, by simply placing the chair under the abutting ends of two'rails, to rest upon two parallel ties, and then clamping the chair to the rails by passing the screw-threaded end of the clamp f across under the chair and through the base c of the clampingjaw, and then putting -a nut,.g, on its end, and thereby drawing the two parallel jaws,f and d, toward each other; and to fasten the chair and connected rails to the ties I drive spikes through perforation's in the horizontal portion of the chair, as shown in Figs. 3 and 10, and 'at lits side, as shown in Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 10.

` In Figs. 7, 9,'and 1l the abutting ends of two rails are immediately over a tie,and the chair rests upon three parallel ties,and ltwo parallel jaws andcla'mpin g devicesare applied between -the'ties and at two ydifferent portions of the chair. In Figs. 6,8and 10 the 'rails 1meet between two ties, and onlyon'e pair orf-jaws is applied. In Figs. 2 and 4 the jaw portion f of the screw-clamp is extended upward to engage the underl sidek of the T- head of the yrailfto aid in holding the ends-of the lrails rigid and in maintaining a continuous solid track. By

t n g vthus clampi-ng-fastand detachably connecting d (shown in Fig. 2) is a lateral and outward my lchair with the ends o'f two rails to form a joint, or at the dividing-point of a broken rail to form a splice, the top edge of the vertical portion ofjthe chair will engage the under side of ythe T-head of the rail, Ito support it and to 4prevent it from twisting or "breaking 'down under the tread of the wheelsof heavy trains, and the flange of the rail or its 'edge will 4be engaged at the junction ofthe vertical and horizontal portions of the'same chair to prevent any vertical motion jor bending of leither of the abutting ends of the rails, and the chair supported upon the ties rthus be comes a truss to relieve the Theadand web of the rail -from undue pressure and lto support them in av Vertical position, while it aids in binding them together vas required Ito produce a continuous track.

Byforminglateral projections i onthe iianges of the rails, as shown i-n Fig. 10, the projections will engage the ends of -the chairs or spikes fixed in the ties, and .preventvthe rails -from creeping relative lto the chairs they engage; and when they creep away from the end of a chair each rail in the track must -act independently, and cannot draw the complete track inthe manner incident to the creeping of vtracks when joints are formed by bolting plates to the sides of the rails.

lc (shown in Figs. 2 and 10) is a projection or stop formed on or fixed tothe longitudinal center of the chair and in the angle formed by the junction of the horizontal portion a and the vertical portion yI) to `enter fa corresponding notch formed in the edge of [the `'flange or' the rail to vprevent any longitudinal movement of the chair relative to the rails. I am aware that a railway-chair has been formed -in two parts in such a manner that the IOL) IIO

pieces could be applied on the opposite sides ofthe rails and theirhorizontal portionsslipped under the ends of the rails by lateral movements; but my manner of forming a chair complete in one pieceand slipping it in place by a lateral movement to form a joint upon a tie or between two, as required in repairing a broken rail in a track, is novel 'and greatly advantageous.

.By notching only one end of each rail to admit the projection 7c, and allowing the other end of the same rail to remain whole, one end of each rail will be free to move longitudinally,

while its opposite end will be locked to the chair by meansof the projection lc and a notch in the flange of the rail near its end.

I am aware that notches have been formed in rails and projections on chairs to enter the notches, and that the end of a rail has been secured to one end of a chair by means of a projection and notch to prevent any longitudinal movement of the rail relative to the chair, while the abutting end of another rail was clamped to the same chair by means of a revolving clamp attached to the tie in such a manner that it could move longitudinally relative to the chair and tie; but my combination ofa chairhaving a projection with one notched rail and one not notched is novel and advan tageous.

I claim as my invention- 1. A railway chair and truss consisting of the horizontal portion a, having a turned-up edge, a', that is adapted to engage the under side of the edge of the iiange of a rail, but not the upper sideiof the same edge, and the vertical extension I), that is adapted to engage the edge ofthe ange of the rail, and the under side of the ball of the rail without coming in contact with the web of the rail, and adapted as a complete device to be moved laterally and placed under the abutting ends of two rails, or a broken rail, to connect and maintain theballs of the two rails even while the flat bottoms of the same ends may be uneven, as and for the purposes stated.

2. In a railway-joint, the jaw c d, having a projection7 cZ, in combination with a screw clamp and nut, g, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. A railway-chair adapted to slide latererally under the abutting ends of rails to engage their iiat bottoms, and also their balls on one side, a jaw adapted to extend under the horizontal portion of the chair, and also partly over the vertical part of the chair, and a clamp adapted to extend through the jaw and under the chair, and to overlap the anges of the rails without extending vertically toV the balls of the rails, arranged and combined in a railway-track as illustrated in Figs. l and 3, for the purposes specified.

4. A railway-chair adapted to slide laterally under the abutting ends of rails to engage their ilat bottoms, and also their balls on one side, a jaw adapted to extend under the horizontal portion ofthe chair, and also partly over the vertical part of the chair, and a clamp adapted to extend through the jaw at its horizontal end, and to the ball of the rail at its vertical end, arranged and combined in a railway-track as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4f, for the purpose specified.

5. The improved railway joint and track composedof a chair formed complete in one piece, having a vertical portion adapted to engage the under sides ofthe T-heads of two abutting rails and also the top edges of their ianges, a screw-clamp, f, a jaw, c d, and one or more crossties, substantially as shown and described.

6. In a railway-joint, the combination of a railway-chair, a b,`adapted to slide laterally under the abutting ends of two rails,and having a single projection, k, in its angle, a rail having anotch in its flange to admit the projection k, and a second rail abutting against the Jirst within the chair, substantially as shown and described, to operate in the manner set forth, for the purposes specified.

- VILLIAM F. GOULD.

Vitnesses:

E. K. vFAILOR,

G. S. SMART. 

